Friends of Dryandra Woodland
Dryandra Street Woodland is a once forgotten 17 hectare patch of urban park less than 3km from the city centre. Prior to 2020 it was criss-crossed by erosive, illegal 4WD tracks, full of dumped rubbish and suffering large scale invasion by environmental weeds.
Flash forward 6 years and after nearly 3,000 volunteer work hours by the Friends of Dryandra Woodland and over $65,000 in financial assistance from the ACT Government the woodland is now a biodiversity gem which protects over 1,400 taxa. Native grasses, shrubs and a eucalyptus canopy have replaced house-block sized masses of blackberries and woody weeds. 179 native plant species have been recorded of which a remarkable 24 species are orchids.
The successful rehabilitation of Dryandra Woodland is testament to the positive outcomes that can be achieved when a government partners with, and supports, community volunteers.
Our Speakers this month are Friends of the Dryandra Woodland - Dr Jamie Pittock, Con Boekel and Bruce Baker
Dr Pittock is Professor in the Fenner School of Environment and Society at The Australian National University. Dr Pittock worked for non-government environmental organisations in Australia and internationally from 1989-2007, including as Coordinator of the Environment Centre NT from 1992 to 1994, Manager of Nature Conservation for WWF Australia from 1994 to 2001 and Director of WWF’s Global Freshwater Programme from 2001-2007. Dr Pittock has served on Australian ministerial advisory boards, including for management of native vegetation, water management and Indigenous protected areas. His research focuses on better governance of the interlinked issues of water management, energy and food supply, responding to climate change and conserving biological diversity. Dr Pittock directs research programs on irrigation and water management in Africa, and on hydropower, food and water in the Mekong region, and on management of the Murray-Darling Basin. He also teaches ANU courses on environment and society, as well as on climate change adaptation.
Cornelis (Con) Boekel MEnvSci, BA, DipEd, GDipIS retired in 2010 following a career that amongst other occupations moved from rural labouring, through farming, and through training Indigenous rangers, to being a senior executive in the Australian Public Service. His public service career focused on Indigenous employment, education and land management policy and programs as well as on conservation policy and program more generally.
Con’s retirement activities include being with family and friends, writing, photography, reading history, collecting data, bushwalking, and rehabilitating the bush. Birds and weeds have been long-term interests.
Con is a member of the Birdlife Australia Photography Group, the ACT Placenames Committee, Friends of Dryandra Bushland and the Canberra Critics Circle.
Bruce Baker moved to Canberra in 2023 and studied Conservation and Ecosystem Management at CIT in 2025. He has enjoyed the greater variety of opportunities to join in bush regeneration projects around the ACT and loves being part of the Friends of Dryandra Woodland as this patch is literally right in his backyard. He also runs a monthly work party at a 1200-acre wilderness block in the Snowy Mountains.
Tickets online or at the door